"Reciprocity" conjures up memories of a younger Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan in Clear and Present Danger. Black ops. Drug cartels. Corrupt politicians (aka "politicians"). You would think "reciprocity" was bad. But for marketers, reciprocity is good. Maybe not as exciting as drugs, guns, and Harrison Ford, but still good. Robert B. Cialdini dedicates a chapter to the concept in his seminal work, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Every salesperson and marketer should read his book. In a nutshell, he says when we do something nice for others, human psychology takes over and they are hardwired to do something for us in return.

Reciprocity: A Case Study I saw the positive impact of reciprocity in action a few years ago. My team was responsible for software volume license contract renewals. (Remember those? That was in the days before the sky was one big cloud). In this case, those contracts ranged in size from $5,000 to $50,000. A team member had the idea of sending the signatory of these contracts a copy of a popular bestselling business book six months before contract renewal. The cost to us? Less than $40 per recipient (bought, packaged, and delivered).

As the data-driven marketing geeks we were, we created a test and a control group to assess the impact of the "gift" on contract renewals. The results were astounding: Renewals in the test group increased appreciably and our return on investment (ROI) for the campaign was well over 1,000 percent.

Expect Nothing in ReturnIf the thing you give is truly a gift, then there should be no expectation (at least no obvious expectation) of getting something in return. A gift with strings attached really isn't a gift. If you're giving gifts to engender feelings of reciprocity, it may seem counterintuitive not to expect something in return. In reality, it's obvious to you that you're hoping for something in return but it can't be obvious to the recipient.

And remember the "Goldilocks Principle" of reciprocity. Give a gift too big and the recipient may see through your generosity. Instead of feeling grateful, he may be on the lookout for what you're going to ask in return, all the while feeling like you're trying to take advantage of him. And, if the recipient works for a large company, he may be limited as to what gifts his employer allows him to accept, and as a result, your gift giving efforts may put him in an awkward ethics conundrum.

On the flipside, give a gift too small and either the recipient may not value it or, worse yet, view you as cheap. Your goal is to give something that is neither too big nor too small but something that is justright—to which you wonder, "Okay, genius, so what's just right?"

It may seem like a cop-out but the best response is the stereotypical b-school answer: "It depends." Let's use the book example I shared earlier. Had we been selling MozyHome at $65, then a $25 business book would have been too big. But we were "selling" licensing contracts that cost thousands of dollars. As a result, I thought a $25 book was too small a gift to give. And yet, the results of the campaign proved I was wrong. So the only direction I can give you is, consider the cost of your gift in relation to the price of your product or service and make sure it feels "right." If anything, err on the side of being too small rather than too big and, finally, get input from those around you.

Remember, Every Customer Has a Personal LifeFace it—we all like to get something for free. And if we can get something free for our personal lives as a benefit of our professional lives, we love it. For example, does your company let you accumulate airline miles or cash-back rewards that benefit you personally even though those miles or rewards came from legitimate business purchases? Yes? Well, that feels great, doesn't it? It makes you feel like you're cheating the system, without cheating the system.

Why do personal gifts have greater impact? The decision-making process for personal purchases is different and more emotional than the process for making purchases for the business. So, giving a personal gift may mean you're giving your customers something that they want but wouldn't buy for themselves. (Kudos to you). Furthermore, because most individuals have smaller personal budgets than their employer's business budgets, a personal gift can be smaller than a professional gift and yet have a greater impact. (More kudos to you, you marketing savant).

Think I'm wrong? The last time you got a holiday gift basket at work, did you share it with your co-workers or did you take it home? To have the most impact, remember that your business customers have personal lives, then think of gifts that they can enjoy personally.

Don't Be Self-ServingYour gift can backfire if it's viewed as self-serving. Let's say you're the product manager for QuickBooks. You know that customers need training, and there are plenty of QuickBooks training books out there, so you decide to give one of those books as a gift to your customers. That is nice and it might be appreciated, but odds are it won't have the same impact as a different gift.

Recipients will likely see your gift as self-serving. They might even see the gift and think, "I spent so much on the software, they should have given me a training book anyway." Furthermore, as noted, a training book on a business software product is inherently professional in nature and, if the recipient needed a training manual, she would have been able to buy the book using the company budget. Finally, the recipient might view the book as benefiting you as much as it benefits her, which removes the feeling that it's a gift—hence, no reciprocal impact.

Decide Between "Just Because" or "Because"One thing you have to decide is whether your gift is going to be something the customer receives because of something she did or just because. An example of a gift that a customer receives because she is a customer might be a welcome gift after her first purchase or a birthday or holiday gift (which, while not mandatory, is also common enough that it won't be viewed as a surprise).

In contrast, a just because gift usually can't be readily associated to anything that your customer did. Timing is key. If the gift comes within a few days or weeks of initial purchase, it might be viewed as a thank you gift. The aforementioned holiday gift is another example of a because gift; it's being given because it's the holidays and that's what companies do for their customers. There's nothing wrong with because gifts—they can still engage the recipient's psychological need for reciprocity—but the impact may not be as great.

So, instead of a welcome gift a week after an initial purchase, consider sending a gift three months later. That doesn't mean you can't send a thank you card after purchase but wait until later to send the gift.

Surprise and DelightOne of the reasons just because gifts are so impactful is because they are unexpected. A couple of years ago, I decided to give a bunch of gifts to my kids one summer day, just because. The experience became known in our family as Awesome Day, and I've been asked more than once when there's going to be another one. Your gift will have the greatest impact if your customers aren't expecting it.

Reciprocity is powerful because we have the need to do something for others when they do something for us. Strategically plan some unexpected gifts for your customers and your execs and managers may be the ones saying "thank you" to you for helping to drive greater sales and profitability. Happy giving!

Read More

About the Author

Brent Johnson is the cofounder and CEO of Cadence Preferred, a sales and marketing campaign, content, and training company. He writes PCMag's weekly Modern Marketing column, focusing on best practices for growing your business and your career.
Prior to Cadence Preferred, Brent was a marketing director at Microsoft and Ancestry.com, with a spec... See Full Bio

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.